Posted 48 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret DownCassandra Peterson On Creating Elvira, Saving The Tassel Scene, And The Enduring Legacy Of The "Mistress Of The Dark"The Queen of Halloween opens up on Elvira's origins, classic film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, and new book, Elvira's Cookbook From Hell.by Andrew FirrioloBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink It's been over 40 years since Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, first lit up late-night TV in her iconic black dress, and she remains a pop culture icon. What began as a local horror-hosting gig has become a lasting legacy, thanks to Cassandra Peterson's unique blend of comedy, camp, and charisma. Matt Beard, 2025 In celebration of spooky season and her new book, Elvira's Cookbook From Hell, I sat down with Cassandra to talk about the origins of Elvira, behind-the-scenes memories from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, and why the character still resonates across generations today.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. BuzzFeed: Elvira is so hilarious and witty! What was your inspiration to blend horror and comedy together?Cassandra: The biggest thing was that I was a member of The Groundlings [Los Angeles-based comedy troupe]. Countless comedians have come out of there - Pee-wee Herman's character, for example. He and I had a lot in common when we were there. It was all about developing characters. I wanted to be funny; I was trying to be a comedian at the time.I was hired at a local TV station, and they liked the fact that I was funny, but they wanted to blend it with the horror and the sexy. I was thinking, "I don't know exactly how this is going to work!" But I did it! I think the key to the Elvira character is that there's a blend of sexiness, horror, and humor.
If you take one of those elements away, it can't be Elvira! (Laughs) You could be like Freddy Krueger - but he doesn't have the sexy so much! Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025 BuzzFeed: Did you have any specific comedic influences growing up?Cassandra: Yes, all the female comedians that I would see in the '50s and '60s - Lucy, for example. Comedians like Phyllis Diller were just starting, Totie Fields, Stiller and Meara, [Ben Stiller's parents], and they were big influences on me. When I was a kid, I just loved them. I'd see them on The Ed Sullivan Show and say, "Wow! Women can be funny too!" It was kind of rare, you know. So I just grew up loving those female stand-up comedians.
Also, the fact that a lot of these women started their careers in their forties! I mean, that was kind of mind-boggling! It was like, "Whoa, there's hope for all of us!"BuzzFeed: When it came time to start Elvira's Movie Macabre, I read that the name Elvira was picked out of a coffee can at random. Do you remember which names you put in the coffee can?Cassandra: I do remember, and I'm like, "Phew, thank God they didn't get picked!" It was the first day of shooting in this little local station, squeezed in between the News at Noon and the News at Five, and I was going to be called Vampira. That was the name they were going to use. The stage manager came running in and said, "You can't use the name Vampira."So there we were, ready to shoot, scrambling! What am I going to be called? Everybody on the set, including the sound guy, the cameraman, and even my ex-husband, all wrote names on pieces of paper. I put in Cassandra! That would be such a nightmare! Can you imagine? I mean, I thought it sounded kind of witchy, right? Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025 BuzzFeed: Oh, wow! You put your own name in the can?Cassandra: I wasn't thinking beyond maybe a week or two, because I didn't think this show was going to keep going. I really didn't - and then I picked Elvira. I first thought, "That doesn't sound spooky to me!"BuzzFeed: I recently watched Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, which is a hilarious movie! Did you have a favorite scene to film?Cassandra: I had a blast during the whole film; the whole thing was fantastic. I loved every second of it, except for maybe getting the paint poured on my head when I was doing the Flashdance thing. That wasn't so fun!I think my favorite scene would have to be the tassel twirling scene at the end, because I fought like a bastard to get that in! They did not want that in for a number of reasons. Well, first of all, you know, tassel twirling! Second of all, they didn't really have the money to build the Las Vegas set, do a whole other costume, and have all the dancers. That scene probably cost more money than almost everything else in the movie.
So the film had shut down production. I was still going to NBC and begging, begging to put that scene in. I said, "Can you imagine that whole movie without the Las Vegas scene at the end? It's like, what's it for? How does it end?"And anyway, I got them to do it. The day I went to shoot it, I had something like a 103-degree temperature. I had the flu. I was so sick, I thought I was going to pass out. I still shot that d